Hurricanes at full tilt
February 04 2010
The Hurricanes have selected a full first-choice starting XV for their Super 14 warm-up match against the Chiefs on Friday.
Andrew Hore leads the team from hooker, while a strong-looking bench features up-and-coming fly-half Aaron Cruden.
The side will line up against a Chiefs team still short of captain Mils Muliaina and which has lost both warm-up matches so far.
But Muliaina, who will return from an extended break after the Chiefs complete their early-season tour of South Africa to recover from mental fatigue, does not believe the defeats thus far are ominous in any way.
"It has been a good break and knowing I'm not back until round four obviously helps," he said to Sportal.
"It's nice just to get away and know that you don't have to start running and to rest some of the niggles you have had.
"It has been good but I am starting to get really itchy feet now and by the time the boys leave on Sunday it will be time to get stuck into some really hard training."
Having been back with the Chiefs over the past two weeks he said there were some good things emerging, despite the two losses the side had suffered in pre-season games, not least the emergence of new All Blacks like Richard Kahui and new leaders in the team like Sione Lauaki.
"It will put us in good stead when we go to South Africa. We haven't predominantly been a team that starts well in Super rugby, but there are some really good positives coming out of it," continued Muliaina.
"The hardest thing for the Chiefs, it's not just Richard Kahui, we've got a lot of All Blacks now. In recent years we haven't had that many but we are talking about seven or eight or so now."
Hurricanes: 15 Cory Jane, 14 Tamati Ellison, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Willie Ripia, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Scott Waldrom, 6 Michael Paterson, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore (c), 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Jacob Ellison, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Karl Lowe, 20 Tyson Keats, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Jason Kawau, 23 Nick Crosswell, 24 David Smith, 25 Andre Taylor, 26 Michael Bent.